World Darts Championship 2022/23 | Day Eight preview and order of play
The Second Round action continues at the 2022/23 World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace on Thursday with a host of box office stars beginning their campaigns.
With the opening round now completed, a double-header of unmissable Last 64 ties is on the cards, featuring a flurry of major title winners.
The afternoon session commences with a clash between former World Masters champion Krzysztof Ratajski and young Dutch debutant Danny Jansen.
Winner of eight PDC ranking titles, Ratajski returns for his sixth successive World Championship campaign as the number 18 seed, with his best run coming two years ago when he reached the Quarter-Finals.
The Polish Eagle, however, has struggled for form on both floor and stage this season, reaching just one European Tour Quarter-Final and failing to progress beyond the Last 16 stage of a televised ranking tournament.
Jansen, meanwhile, marked his Ally Pally debut with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Paolo Nebrida of the Philippines, and the 20-year-old ProTour event winner will be eyeing a marked improvement on his match average of 83.4 if he is to threaten an upset here.
Dirk van Duijvenbode, the number 14 seed, opens up with a tie against Czech number two Karel Sedlacek.
Van Duijvenbode enjoyed a breakthrough run to the final of the 2020 World Grand Prix has gone from strength-to-strength since, picking up three ranking titles and finishing runner-up in a further two televised events, including this year’s Dutch Darts Masters on home soil.
Semi-finalist in October’s European Championship, the lively Dutchman reached the Last Eight here two years ago and will be out to utilise his formidable scoring power to mount another deep run this time around.
Sedlacek swept past Australia’s Raymond Smith in straight sets to register his first win on this stage at the third attempt and is now eyeing a major scalp for what would be the biggest win of his career to date.
Sedlacek’s fellow countryman and World Cup team-mate Adam Gawlas also looks to upset the applecart when he faces 16th seed Ryan Searle.
Searle, winner of a ProTour event in each of the last three seasons, boasts a consistent record at Ally Pally, having reached the Fourth Round in three of his previous four appearances.
Searle has fallen at the Last 16 hurdle in three TV majors this year and will be wary of the threat posed by the former World Youth finalist – who knocked out former Lakeside World Champion Richie Burnett 3-2 on his debut last week.
Former Champions League of Darts winner Mensur Suljovic aims to avoid another early exit on the sport’s biggest stage when he meets in-form Belgian Mike De Decker.
Suljovic has never made it beyond the Third Round in 14 previous PDC World Championship appearances and has been dumped out in his opening match in three of his last four Ally Pally outings.
The Austrian ace has provisionally dropped out of the world’s top 32, having failed to qualify for three TV majors this season, and faces a tough opener against the free-scoring youngster.
De Decker fired in eight 180s on his way to a 3-1 victory over Canada’s Jeff Smith in Round One, and the four-time Development Tour event winner will be quietly confident of breaking new ground at the palace.
A mouth-watering evening session kicks off with a rematch between two-time World Champion Gary Anderson and Latvian ace Madars Razma.
Anderson defeated Razma 3-1 in the Second Round here behind closed doors two years ago and went on to reach the final – where he was denied glory by rival Gerwyn Price.
The Flying Scotsman is under pressure to defend his runner-up prize money from that event as he bids to avoid tumbling out of the world’s top 16 after a barren year of results in front of the TV cameras.
Anderson finished bottom of the Premier League table and suffered First Round exits at the World Matchplay and World Grand Prix, but boasts a strong record at Ally Pally, with five finals and two Semi-Finals to his name since 2011.
Razma overcame Indian qualifier Prakash Jiwa 3-1 in his opener, and the methodical Latvian – quarter-finalist in October’s World Grand Prix – will now look to catch Anderson cold for what would be a first ever opening round exit for the Scot.
James Wade, widely regarded as the best player yet to have lifted a world title, starts his latest quest for glory with a tie against former BDO world finalist Jim Williams.
Wade has reached the Semi-Finals here on four occasions, including 12 months ago when he was eventually denied by Michael Smith.
The ten-time major champion also landed a nine-darter behind closed doors two years ago and reached this season’s Premier League play-offs and the final of the New South Wales Masters.
Williams held his nerve to edge out Polish teenager Sebastian Białecki in a deciding set on Tuesday, and the ProTour event winner is now vying to reach the Last 32 here for the first time and subject Wade to a first opening round exit since 2017.
Luke Humphries, the dominant force on this year’s European Tour with four titles, starts his campaign against German star Florian Hempel.
Humphries heads back to Ally Pally in his highest ever ranking position (fifth) and has enjoyed a superb backend of the season which has seen him reach the Semi-Finals of both the Grand Slam and Players Championship Finals last month.
Quarter-finalist in three of his last four World Championship appearances, ‘Cool Hand Luke’ will be eyeing a strong start against the German Super League winner – who narrowly defeated Keegan Brown in a sudden death leg to book his place in Round Two.
The final match of the night sees crowd favourite Vincent van der Voort take on the enigmatic Cameron Menzies.
Former UK Open finalist Van der Voort has been an ever-present at Ally Pally since 2008 and has twice reached the Quarter-Finals.
The rapid Dutchman’s highlight of the season so far saw him reach the Semi-Finals of the Czech Darts Open, and he will look to delight the crowd by progressing past Scottish debutant Menzies.
Menzies, semi-finalist in this year’s WDF World Championship and a four-time Challenge Tour event winner, dispatched Diogo Portela 3-1 in his opener with an 86 average.
The action commences from 12.30pm GMT, with Second Round matches to be contested over the best five sets, best of five legs per set.
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World Darts Championship 2022/23 Day Eight Schedule
Thursday December 22
Second Round
Afternoon Session (12.30pm-4.30pm)
Krzysztof Ratajski v Danny Jansen
Ryan Searle v Adam Gawlas
Mensur Suljovic v Mike De Decker
Dirk van Duijvenbode v Karel Sedlacek
Evening Session (7pm-11pm)
Gary Anderson v Madars Razma
James Wade v Jim Williams
Luke Humphries v Florian Hempel
Vincent van der Voort v Cameron Menzies
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